Kael’s POV
She didn’t answer .
I’d just told her the most honest thing I’d said in three years. That I’d been searching for her. That I’d torn the world apart trying to find her.
And she just... stood there.
Silent. Trembling. Those silver-gray eyes swimming with tears she refused to let fall.
Her lips pressed together. Tight. Stubborn. Like she was physically holding back every word that wanted to escape.
The silence was killing .
Three years. Three years of unanswered questions. Three years of sleepless nights. Three years of wondering if she was alive, dead, happy, suffering, thinking of , hating , forgetting .
And now she was here. Right in front of . Close enough to touch.
And she wouldn’t say a single word.
"Aria." My voice ca out rougher than I intended. "Talk to ."
Nothing.
"Please." The word scraped against my throat. Foreign. Desperate. Alpha Kael Blood Crown didn’t say please. Didn’t beg. Didn’t show weakness to anyone.
But for her?
For her, I’d get on my knees if she asked.
Her chin lifted slightly. Defiant. Those eyes eting mine with sothing I couldn’t read.
Still silent.
Sothing cracked inside my chest.
All those years of searching. All those nights of wondering. All that pain and longing and desperate hope—
And she wouldn’t even SPEAK to .
*Fenrir.* I reached for my wolf. *What do I do?*
*CLAIM HER.* His voice was a roar. *She’s RIGHT THERE. Take what’s OURS.*
No. I couldn’t. Not like this. Not when she looked at like I was sothing to fear.
But the control I’d held onto for so long was slipping. Crumbling. Falling apart with every second she refused to acknowledge what was between us.
"Why won’t you talk to ?" The words burst out. Raw. Wounded. "What did I do that was so terrible you can’t even look at ?"
Her jaw tightened.
Still nothing.
The frustration building in my chest turned to sothing darker. Sothing desperate.
Years of pain.
Years of emptiness.
Years of watching every sunset alone, wondering if I’d ever see her face again.
And she was just standing there. Silent. Like I ant nothing.
Like WE ant nothing.
"Damn it, Aria!" My hand slamd against the desk beside her. The sound echoed through the empty office. "I’ve spent THREE YEARS searching for you! Three years losing my mind! Do you have any idea what that’s been like?"
She flinched. Just slightly.
But still—STILL—she said nothing.
Sothing snapped.
I don’t know what it was. The last thread of my control. The final barrier holding back everything I’d suppressed for so long.
But suddenly I was moving.
My hands found her face. Cupped it. Tilted it up toward .
And before I could stop myself—before I could think about consequences or rejection or anything else—
I kissed her.
Hard.
Desperate.
Three years of longing poured into a single, devastating contact.
She went rigid in my arms. Her hands flew up, pressing against my chest. Pushing.
I didn’t let go.
Couldn’t let go.
*Mine.* Fenrir was howling. *MINE. OURS. FINALLY.*
Her lips were soft. Warm. Exactly as I rembered. Exactly as I’d dread about on all those lonely nights.
She struggled against . Her small fists beating against my shoulders. Her body twisting, trying to escape.
But I was stronger.
So much stronger.
I pulled her closer. One arm around her waist. The other tangled in her hair. Holding her in place. Refusing to let her run again.
She made a sound against my mouth. A whimper. A protest.
Then—
Sothing changed.
Her resistance faltered. Her fists unclenched. Her body softened against mine.
And suddenly she was kissing back.
The world exploded.
Her hands that had been pushing away grabbed the front of my shirt. Pulled closer. Her mouth opened beneath mine, and the taste of her flooded my senses.
Sweet. Familiar. Like coming ho after a thousand years of wandering.
I groaned.
The sound was desperate. Embarrassing. Completely beyond my control.
But I didn’t care.
Nothing mattered except this. Her. Us.
I backed her against the desk. Felt her spine hit the edge. Heard her gasp against my lips.
Didn’t stop.
Couldn’t stop.
My tongue traced the seam of her mouth. She opened for . Let in. t with equal hunger, equal desperation.
Three years.
Three years of nothing but mories and dreams.
And now she was real. Solid. Warm in my arms.
I lifted her onto the desk. Papers scattered. Sothing crashed to the floor. I didn’t look. Didn’t care.
My hands found her waist. Pulled her to the edge. Settled between her thighs.
She moaned.
The sound shot straight through . Made my blood burn. Made Fenrir howl with triumph.
*More. Need more. Need all of her.*
I kissed her deeper. Harder. Trying to pour everything I felt into that single point of contact. All the loneliness. All the pain. All the love I’d never been able to kill no matter how hard I tried.
Her fingers tangled in my hair. Tugged. Sharp and desperate.
I growled against her mouth.
She tasted like tears.
That thought cut through the haze. Made pause. Pull back just enough to look at her.
Her face was flushed. Lips swollen from my kiss. Eyes half-closed.
And wet.
Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
"Aria..." Her na ca out broken. "I—"
She shook her head.
One sharp movent. Then another.
But she didn’t pull away. Didn’t try to escape. Just sat there on my desk, legs wrapped around my waist, crying silently while I held her.
I pressed my forehead against hers.
Our breath mingled. Ragged. Desperate. The only sound in the empty office.
She was shaking.
Or maybe I was.
Maybe we both were.
"I looked everywhere." The words spilled out. I couldn’t stop them. "Every pack. Every territory. Every corner of this damn world. I never stopped. Not for one day. Not for one HOUR."
She made a sound. Small. Wounded.
"Do you understand?" I pulled back just enough to look into her eyes. "Do you have any idea what it was like? Waking up every morning not knowing if you were alive? Going to sleep every night wondering if I’d ever see you again?"
A tear slipped down her cheek.
My thumb caught it. Wiped it away.
Another fell imdiately.
"I thought you were dead." My voice cracked. Actually cracked. "So nights I was SURE of it. Sure that sothing terrible had happened. Sure that I’d lost you forever."
She was trembling in my arms. Her whole body shaking like a leaf in a storm.
"And then I’d wake up the next morning and think, no. She’s alive. She HAS to be alive. Because I would KNOW if she wasn’t. I would FEEL it."
I cupped her face. Made her look at .
"Was I wrong?" The question ca out raw. Desperate. "Was I wrong to keep hoping?"
Silence.
Then, finally—FINALLY—she spoke.
"You said you’ve been searching for ?"
Her voice was hoarse. Barely above a whisper.
But it was HER voice. After all this ti.
"Yes." The word ca out like a prayer. "Yes. For three years. Never stopped."
She closed her eyes. More tears leaked out from beneath her lashes.
"Stop lying to ."
The words hit like a punch to the gut.
"Aria..." Her na was all I could manage. The only word that made sense.
She shook her head. One final ti.
"Can you please let go?"
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